Great Speeches on the Internet
I love listening to great speeches. (And I’m pained somewhat awful by bad speeches.) If you’d like to see and hear or sometimes only hear great speakers in action, check out these sites:
American Rhetoric
This is my favorite site. You can get lost in it for hours. It has a bank of the “Top Ten Speeches,” “Movie Speeches,” and “Speeches of the Week.”
The History Channel
The history channel provides clips of historical speeches. The site is somewhat cluttered and you have to put up with annoying advertisements, but it’s still worth checking out.
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
You can find 20 “sample speeches” here, including Stokley Carmichael’s “We Ain’t Going” and Ronald Reagan’s “Barry Goldwater.”
The History Place
Here are speeches (transcripts and audio, when available) from the last several centuries, including ones by Susan B. Anthony, George Marshall, and Elie Weisel.
Miller Center of Public AffairsÂ
If you’re looking for presidential speeches (all the inaugral addresses and many of their most important speeches), this is the place to go.
Do you know of any other resources? I’d love to add them to my list.
Tags: Chris Witt, Great Speeches, Speeches on the Internet, Speeches on the Net, Witt Communications
December 15th, 2008 at 8:15 am
I just discovered your blog. Thank you, thank you. For those of us who vaue the spoken (and written) word, it’s a treasure. Keep those great speeches coming, Chris.
December 15th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Chris,
I like the sites you mention, but my all time favorite place for excellent presentations is TED.com. Check it out. I’m not affiliated with TED in anyway–I’m just passionate about communication- like you are. In fact, I do a podcast on improving communication skills (thepublicspeaker.tv)…we should connect and see what we can do together. -Lisa
December 15th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Lisa,
Thanks for telling me about TED.com. It’s a great resource. What I like about it is, it’s got contemporary speeches, not just the classics. I’ll definitely add it to my list of sites.
(I’ve tried checking out your site, but it comes up as unavailable. I’d like to connect.)
-Chris
March 4th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
It sounds like you are gathering lots of different ideas in your blog. This is great stuff.
March 5th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Thomas,
Thanks for joining us in this discussion. Glad you’re here. Glad to hear you like what’s here.
Chris